Alive!
by strangestnightmare
Summary: It was just one of those days Arthur decided. One of those days that made you questions the laws of nature and wonder what went on inside the minds of barmy old men.
1. Prologue

**Alive!**

**Disclaimer:** Me no own any characters from Harry Potter nor anything else for that matter.

My story is set sometime after OotP but does not follow anything to do with HPB. Also Harry defeated Voldemort at the end of the whole Ministry of Magic thing, just after Sirius fell through the veil, so yeah, he's dead and not part of this story.

Ok, so I know that this sort of plot line has been done before (numerous times)  
but just give me a bit and I will try to make it something new and exciting, this is after all only the prologue.

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It was just one of those days Arthur decided. One of those days that made you questions the laws of nature and wonder what went on inside the minds of barmy old men.

Sitting in the waiting room at St Mungos Arthur thought back to when IT happened. He had been sent on one of those 'sort-of missions' by Dumbledore. He was to collect something from the Department of Mysteries. His path took him through the veil room. He was walking quite peacefully past the veil, trying very hard not to think about Sirius, when the sound of drums filled the room. In seconds Arthur had whipped out his wand and spun on the spot searching out possible threats. However there was nothing there, at least nothing he could see. The drum beats continued though and he stayed perfectly still his mind working to figure out where the noise was originating from. Minutes past and slowly the sound centred around the veil, which was pulsing. Arthur watch as the surface of the veil rippled, the smoke like wafers solidifying and turning watery. The ripples grew bigger and bigger and Arthur watched in fascination as something...no two something's grew closer. Their outlines grew darker and they became human shaped.

Arthur thought he really should be sounding an alarm of some kind, the rational part of his brain telling him that this was not normal, the veil should not being doing this. But in all fairness it was just to fascinating to watch. The figures drew ever closer, still only black outlines. That was until they started to push out of the veil. first came the fingers then the hand and a whole arm followed by the figures legs and torso, lastly the persons head appeared from inside the veil. Icy eyes blinked at Arthur. The second figure followed and a mess of black hair shielded this man's eyes from Arthur.

All Arthur could do was gape, his jaw on the floor and his eyes comically wide. His brain repeating the same thing over and over again,

_'Sirius Black and James Potter are ALIVE!'_

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Thank you for reading.

I know it's sorta short but the chapters will get longer.

Please review.

Strangestnightmare.


	2. It begins

**Alive!**

**Disclaimer: **Me no own.

Please bear with me, it will get better...I think...I hope :D

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**Chapter 1:****It begins...**

Currently Arthur Weasley was sitting in a waiting room in St Mungos, head in hands, wondering if the world he knew could get any weirder. This coming from a wizard was serious cause for concern. Hours early Arthurs views on life had been forcefully changed as he was witness to the miracle that was Sirius Black and James Potter coming back from the dead. And only minutes after arriving at St Mungos he had jumped to his feet as Albus Dumbledore had strode into the ward as if everything was right with the world. You must note though that Dumbledore had arrived before anybody had had the opportunity to contact him and tell him of this slightly distressing occurrence. A series of events that led Arthur to where he was now, slumped over in his chair and contemplating the meaning of life.

Fortunately for the poor man he was jarred out of his thoughts as two rambunctious grown men burst into the room grinning broadly and slapping each other on the back in some sort of painful looking congratulatory way. The two men caught sight of a very unfortunate red head, proceeded to launch themselves and tackle him to the floor in an overenthusiastic hug, both telling the poor, poor man how thankful they were that he didn't freak out when he first saw them and had the fore-sight to bring them to St Mungos.

Thankfully before Arthur passed out from lack of air, the waiting room doors crashed open and a frantic Remus Lupin skidded into the room, his head whipping from side to side searching for the two...things he had come to see. This had the immediate effect of the two men propelling themselves from Arthur and launching themselves across the room with simultaneous screams of "MOONY!"

-O-

As this reunion was going on, miles away in the house of 4 Privet Drive one Harry James Potter was suffering through the worst summer he could remember.

His Uncle had been none too pleased about the threat the Order had given him. Unfortunately for Harry the threat did more harm than good, and with the added effect of his family finding out that his deadly godfather was, in-fact, dead, his summer quickly turned into hell.

Vernon Dursely was never a very stable man. He had a quick and explosive temper which he liked to take out on his defenceless nephew. Also Vernon did not like to be threatened, he did not like those 'freaks' trying to tell him what to do, he was after all better than them, he was normal. In his tiny, tiny brain all the faults in his life and his family's life were there because of his nephews 'freakiness'. This conclusion lead him to another conclusion that if the boy could do all this to his family then he could retaliate and protect his family by keeping the boy in as much pain as was humanly possible.

True enough, this treatment had been going on for as long as Harry could remember. However, it was never this bad. The days became routine for Harry and Vernon. The morning beating (before Petunia woke up), this mostly included some-sort-of weapon (be it a belt, wood or metal). Vernon would leave the boy in puddles of his own blood with strict orders to clean it up and make breakfast. Then there would be the chore list when Vernon was at work. An impossibly long list ranging from weeding the garden to repainting the entire house. Vernon would return home and the list would be uncompleted, then comes the second beating of the day (which was purely physical), this one was normally administered when Petunia went out to shop. Again Harry would be left to clean himself and the pools of blood up. Harry was ordered to make dinner and then banished to his room, completing the whole "You don't deserve our food, boy!"

This is where the routine varied. If it was a writing day then Vernon would allow Harry to write a letter to the order, so they would not get suspicious. However Harry did not have a chance to write any code or anything as Vernon was always there reading over his shoulder. The nightly beating took place after that. Then worst of all. On some nights, if Vernon was in the right mind, he would force himself on his nephew. Then leave him there, tied to the bed, until morning.

This had been going on for weeks now, and nobody had noticed. Not the guards that were supposed to have been placed outside his house, nor Petunia Dursely. See Petunia wasn't as cold hearted as some might think she was, no. She actually liked her nephew, she was the one who, when he was younger, made sure he would eat (even if she did it in secret). She looked after him as best she could without her husband finding out, because she knew what other people guessed, Vernon Dursely was an evil and frightening man. Along with her nephew she also had herself and her son to worry about. She knew perfectly well that she could not get away from Vernon and raise two growing boys by herself. Not just because it would be hard (if that was all she would have done it) but because Vernon would kill them.

However she had tried to help in the past, by sending letters (via owl) to Dumbledore. None of them had ever been answered and nothing else came from them. However now things were starting to get out of hand, Petunia was actually starting to fear for her nephews life. Oh, she knew something was going on, no matter how hard Vernon tried to hide it she just didn't know how bad it really was. But she saw the warning signs. Vernon had began to drink more, his temper was shorter than normal and he had even begun to snap at his precious Dudley. So Petunia Dursely decided that she had to try something else. She racked her brains for something, and finally she remembered that Harry had to send a letter his friends every few days, that's when it clicked. His Friends. She remembered one of them from Lilly's wedding, one Remus Lupin. She decided that he would be the one to get her urgent letter. Little did she know that something would stall him in getting there and stopping something worse from happing to her poor, helpless, little nephew.

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Thank you very much for reading

Please review

Strangestnightmare


	3. They What?

**Alive!**

**Disclaimer: ** No, no I still don't own Harry Potter (not that I ever will either)

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**Chapter 2:****They What?**

A snowy white owl flew through an open window in the Burrow, and slammed straight into a huge crowd of people situated in the kitchen and pouring into other areas of the over populated house.

One would think that when an owl rushes into a house fast enough to slam into somebody then said person would think something was up. Unfortunately this particular person (one Mundungus Fletcher) just brushed it off. If he had looked properly at the owl he would have noticed that it was none other than Harry Potters Hedwig. However he did not, and a disoriented Hedwig was left to try and find someone who would take notice of her and understand that this was truly important.

Familiar raised voices from the opposite room caught her attention so as quickly as her exhausted wings would let her she flew towards the people she knew would help her boy.

* * *

Hermione Granger, Ronald, Ginervra, Fred and George Weasley were in the middle of a heated argument with Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Albus Dumbledore (although he was really just twinkling), Mr Weasley, Mrs Weasley and James Potter.

"Why the bloody hell haven't you told him yet!"

"Ronald! Language."

"For once I am in agreement with Ron. Why the bloody hell haven't you told him?"

Mrs Weasley just glared at her children and Hermione. Unfortunatly, this time, her glare had no effect as they returned it tenfold. All of the children's eyes turned to Sirius as he spoke,

"We wanted it to be a surprise. So we're waiting till he comes to the Burrow in a few weeks."

Suffice it to say the childrens reactions were not what Sirius was expecting. They stared at him in, what looked like horror, before Ron and Ginny both turned bright red with anger just as Fred, George and Hermione went pale with the same degree of anger.

In a decpetivly calm voice George managed to grit out,

"So you thought that it was a good idea to tell everybody but Harry about the fact that his dead father and godfather are alive?"

The adults just stared him down. The argument quickly turned into just that, both parties staring each other down in the hopes that one would cave.

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Fred Weasley couldn't understand what the hell was wrong with his parents. He thought that the first person to be told should have been Harry instead of every other bloody person in the whole damn order. But nooo, they just had to think that it was a good idea to let the boy think that the one adult that he had felt the closest to was still dead and not even realise that his dreams of having a father were closer to being a reality then he had ever dared to hope.

As Fred levelled his glare at his parents a flash of white caught his attention. He turned towards the door of the room, and blinked in surprise as Hedwig flattered in looking worse than he had ever seen her. She was covered in something, marring her beautiful white feathers. Fred could see the exhaustion, it was practically rolling off her.

Abandoning the argument, he walked slowly towards the weary bird, so as not to startle her. He picked her up gently and looked at the letter that was attached to her leg, it was addressed to one Remus Lupin.

Fred walked back to the argument and tapped Remus on the shoulder, effectively making the man turn his glare onto him. The glare faulted when Remus caught sight of the bedraggled Hedwig. Fred just held out the letter addressed to him. With a different kind of frown (more worried now) he took the letter and slowly opened it, a feeling of dread settling over him before he had even read the letter.

Fred watched closely as Remus' face drained of all colour as he read and re-read the scruffy letter. He took the letter from Remus' shaking hands and started to read it himself. His face slowly joined Remus in losing all colour, and he managed a choked sound when he came to the end of the letter. George instantly took notice, saw the colour his twin and Remus had gone, caught sight of Hedwig, only glanced at the letter and immediately realised that something was wrong with Harry, so he decided to bring it to everybody's attention. By saying very loudly;

"What is it? What's wrong with Harry?"

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Sorry the chapters short, it was sort of a filler.  
The next one will hopefully be longer.  
Thank you for reading.  
Please Review

Strangestnightmare


	4. Sev'rus

**Alive!**

AN/ In this story, the relationship between Snape and Harry is different, however they have been hiding it form everybody because of his spying thing. Just thought I should point that out first off.  
**Warning: **There is implied non-con, however it is almost nonexistent, there is no description of the actual act. major abuse from Vernon.  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything to do with Harry Potter.

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**Chapter 3:****Sev'rus**

Harry knew something was wrong the minute Vernon's car arrived in the driveway. It was just this feeling that he had, like something dark twisting in his gut. He was proved correct seconds later when the front door slammed open and Vernon stormed inside, stinking of booze and purple in the face. The man's eyes seemed to zone in on Harry immediately. In moments he was in front of the small boy, his meaty hand snaking out and connecting with Harry's cheek with a sickening sound.

"YOU! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT YOU FREAK!" Vernon's roar resounded throughout the house. Harry stumbled to his feet.

"Wh..what happened sir?"

SMASH

Petunia watched in horror as her husband smashed a glass beer bottle straight into Harry's face. Glass fragments clattered to the floor, all that wasn't now stuck in Harry's face that is.

"I LOST MY JOB BECAUSE OF YOU, YOU AND YOUR FREAKISHNIS! YOU PUT A SPELL ON ME!" At that moment Petunia and Dudley knew, Vernon had lost his mind. The large man's fists and feet rained down on his smaller nephew.

Harry's scream tore both witnesses form their shock, they raced into action. Dudley leapt towards his father, wrapping his arms around the larger man. Unfortunately, Vernon in a rage was stronger than his son and managed to throw him off. Even further unluckiness, on the way down Dudley slammed his head against the table, then the floor and there he stayed, the world gone black.

This left Harry to feel the burning rage of Vernon on every part of him. Harry couldn't stop it as his voice tore from his throat in a terrifying scream as Vernon smashed everything he could find over the small boy.

Harry's scream upped a few notches as Vernon grabbed his oversized jeans and ripped them off him, along with everything underneath. As Vernon continued Harry's screaming rang through the house making it tremble.

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Meanwhile, Petunia ran to the little cupboard under the stairs, forcing the door open through sheer will power, she yanked the trunks lid open, and froze. Lying, forgotten, on top of the pile of Harry's belongings was a beautiful pendant. Petunia reached for the piece of beauty, the note hanging of it catching her attention. Quickly she picked it up and skimmed the words, her gasp was lost under the shouts and screams form the other room.

_Harry  
__I know you don't want to go back, and I have a bad feeling about you going as well.  
__So I give you this pendant.  
__If you are ever in trouble just pick it up, hold it tight, think of me and say the word "Phoenix".  
__I will feel it and will come immediately.  
__Be Safe  
__Severus Snape_

Petunia didn't waste a second. She grabbed the pendent to her chest, clenched her eyes shut, set her mind on all she could remember of Severus Snape and yelled (all in the moment)  
"PHENOIX!"

A few seconds past before there was aloud 'POP' and the dark figure of Severus Snape appeared in the hallway of number 4 Privet Drive. The man froze for a moment staring at Petunia, before the agonizing scream broke though his astonishment. Severus spun on the spot, facing the door to the family room.

"Hurry please, Vernon's going to kill him." That was all Petunia needed to say before Severus was slamming through the door, wand raised and spell already on his lips. However when he got a good look at the scene in front of him, the spell changed to one decidedly more malicious.

The spell hurtled into Vernon, picking him off the ground and throwing him into the opposite wall. Severus took no notice of Petunia as she gasped and run to her son. He only had eyes for the small, bloody bundle that was Harry. He sunk to his knees beside the boy and gently moved Harry's head onto his lap. The boys eyes were glazed with pain, and (Severus gasped) small bits of glass imbedded in the right eye and around the left.

"Harry, Harry! I need you to say something, tell me your alive. Please Harry." Severus' voice cracked as he continued to plead with the boy, at the same time as he ran his wand over Harry's body healing anything he could.

Then the most wonderful thing he could have heard,

"Sev'rus" Harry's voice was quite and raw from screaming, but it was there and Severus almost cried in relief.

"Yes Harry it's me, I'm here, I've got you. It'll be ok. I've got you." Severus continued to murmur comforting phrases as he manoeuvred the boy so he could pick Harry up.

As a sickening twist of fate, just as Severus reached down to pick the small boy up, the front door crashed open and in poured a group of wizards, all wands up and ready to use. Severus' immediate reaction was to place himself in front of Harry and raise his own wand in answer. That is until he saw who had burst into the house, and who was now staring in horror at the bloody scene before them. As soon as Severus had assessed the situation as being no immediate threat he turned back to Harry. Bending he gently scoped the prone figure into his arms. And froze as a wand was pressed against his throat.

"Put. Harry. Down" Sirius was seething his teeth clenched together eyes glaring accusingly at Severus. The potion Masters eyes slipped to the side as another wand was jabbed into the other side of his neck. James Potter's infuriated voice reached his ears,

"Get your filthy hands off of my son Snivillus!" Severus' only reaction was to sneer at the them then apperate away. Leaving behind almost the entire Order of The Phoenix to clean up the mess at Number 4 Privet Drive, and wonder just what the hell had happened.

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Thanks for reading  
Will try to update earlier from now on...but can't promise anything as uni takes up a lot of my time.

Feel free to review  
Strangestnightmare


	5. Daddy!

**Alive!**

**Warning: ** Major abuse from Vernon.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything to do with Harry Potter.

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**Chapter 4: Daddy!**

James Potter looked on in shock as Petunia and Dudley Dursely told the Order what had happened throughout the summer, and hinted at earlier summer's abuse. He couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that his son, his baby boy, had been abused so horribly, and he hadn't been there to stop it. He turned to look at his two best friends hoping that this was all a joke, that they had taken his son in and this summer was actually a one-off. His heart sunk as he saw the equally horrified and stricken faces. James put his head in his hands wandering where it had all gone wrong.

Dumbledore was looking at Petunia sadly, wandering how he had managed to miss all the signs of an abused child in Harry. When Petunia mentioned the many owls she had sent to him, all heads turned his way and he frowned.

"Owls? I am sorry but I did not receive any owls from you. Ever." Petunia joined his frown and was about to say something when the now awake Vernon interrupted,

"Of course you didn't get any bloody owls, I had to kill them all didn't I? Couldn't let the neighbours see that freakishness!" Thankfully before Vernon could continue somebody hit him with a _stupefy_. Dumbledore sighed, where had it all gone wrong?

* * *

Severus had apperated to just outside the Hogwarts wards. The precious bundle in his arms moaned at the feeling of apperation and Severus practically sprinted for the castle, being careful not to jostle Harry too much.

Severus burst into the hospital wing, yelling for Poppy Pomfrey. The Medi witch stormed out of her office, set on yelling at Severus for disturbing her infirmary so loudly. She froze, however, when she caught sight of the bloody bundle in the man's arms. Gesturing to a bed Poppy grabbed the necessary potion vials and set to work on healing Harry. Severus and Poppy spent hours bent over the prone form of Harry Potter working hard to bring the boy back to safety.

Just as the two finished their work the infirmary doors banged open emitting the frantic forms of Harry's father, godfathers and the headmaster. James, Sirius, Remus and Dumbledore all rushed over to the bed, James shoving Severus away from his son whilst sending a death-glare his way, and a hiss of "This isn't over Snivillus!"

The men all looked at Poppy expectantly. Her only answer was to arch an eyebrow at them and pointedly turn to Severus. all heads following her. The potions master met the grim faces, which (for three of them) quickly turned into glares, guardedly. "He is stable, and should stay that way. However I would advise not upsetting him when he wakes, it would be...unhelpful." Severus' words were, apparently, enough to set the three remaining Marauders off. James was red faced, had his wand unwaveringly pointed at Severus' face and was yelling at the Potions Master his voice raising with every word.

"What the hell has this got to do with you Snape! How dear you go anywhere near my son! It was you wasn't it? You did this to my son and framed that muggle! YOU BASTARD!" With that two other wands were trained on Snape's face. Remus was growling low in his throat and Sirius was seething beside him.

Before anybody else could say anything a voice from the bed stopped them cold.

"Daddy." Harry's voice was soft and quite, slightly scratchy from his earlier screaming. All heads in the room snapped towards the bed, to find Harry's eyes still closed and the boy still asleep. Harry whimpered and pleaded (because that was the only way to describe the sorrowful sound of his voice) "Daddy please." In the next instance James was beside his sons bed, reaching out to touch him whilst whispering reassuring words.

However as soon as James' hand came in contact with Harry, the boy cried out and shied away from the man. Harry's eyes snapped open through practice and widened at the far to close unfamiliar blurry figure in front of him. He cried out again and scrambled back. He would have fallen off the bed had strong arms not caught him just at the edge. The boy spun around and stared up at the tall black figure in front of him, his eyes widening in recognition. With a cry of "DADDY!" Harry threw himself into Severus Snape's arms and clung to his robes whilst he sobbed into the man's chest.

James, Sirius, Remus and Dumbledore watched in horrified surprise as the one and only Harry James Potter threw himself at Severus Snape and clung to him like the man was his life line.

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I know a short chapter, but my creativity is running low at the moment.

Will hopefully be better in the next chapter.

Please review

Thank you for reading

Strangestnightmare


	6. Revelations of a sort

**Alive!**

**Disclaimer: **I do not, nor will I ever own Harry Potter or anything from the Harry Potter Universe.

**AN:** Ok so, I have decided that Voldemort has already been killed, making a slight change to the ending of the fifth book (that's when Harry kills him). There will also be an update in the prologue explaining this to new readers, however this is for those who have already read to this point and are waiting for an update.

Right, anyway, on with the story.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Revelations...of a sort**

James, Sirius, Remus and Albus watched, with varying degrees of shock or horror, as the normally cold and heartless potions professor comforted a distraught Harry Potter with soft words and gentle hands. Poppy was standing next to them, a knowing smile stretching across her face.

Until James snapped out of his stupor, and proceeded to turn red in fury. Before anyone could stop him, James had strode forward, gripped Harry's arm and yanked him away from Severus.

In hindsight not the best of ideas.

Harry's reaction was immediate (and quite justified). He screamed. Loud and long, and he continued screaming through James' attempts to comfort him. Harry struggled in the man's arms, his own reaching towards where Severus was being held back by a furious Sirius and Remus.

Then suddenly, Sirius and Remus were blown back and James was forcibly removed from where he was restraining Harry. As Severus rushed to Harry and enveloped him in his arms. The three men turned to glare at a furious Poppy Pomfrey.

"How dear you!" Instinctively the three men took a large step back. They had never heard Poppy's voice sound so cold and icy.

"Don't you think the child has been traumatised enough without you taking him away from the one person who makes him feel safe?" The men glared at her. However, she wasn't finished.

"Get out, and you are not to come back until I tell you. LEAVE!" James, Sirius and Remus were forced out of the ward, and the doors slammed in their faces.

-0-

Later that night found the three men lounging in the Gryffindor common room. The fire was blazing in the hearth, and the room as a whole had a lethargic and peaceful air about it. The thoughts of the three men, however, were anything but.

"Snivillus is a bastard" was repeated by Sirius, for what was probably the hundredth time. The other two nodded along, absently agreeing to the comment. Silence settled on the brooding men.

"We need to get my son away from that...that, DEATHEATER!" James' roar reverberated through the Gryffindor dorms, startling Sirius and Remus out of their brooding. Identical smirks worked their way onto the men's faces as they began to plan a way to get Harry away from Severus Snape.

-0-

Meanwhile, Harry and Severus were locked in an almost stifling hug. Harry's head was buried in Severus' chest, as Severus stroked his hair, watching the sleeping boy.

Albus, Poppy and Severus had been talking for a while now, waiting for Harry to fall asleep. Albus decided that now would be the best time to question (interrogate) his potions master on his relationship with Mr Potter.

Severus bet him to it.

"I confronted him in first year, when I noticed the bruising on his arms. Our relationship just grew from there, and that is all I'm going to say Albus."

Poppy sniggered at the Headmasters disgruntled look and his grumble about Severus always taking the fun out of things. However the headmaster bounced back almost immediately and the twinkle in his eyes grew twofold, causing the other two adults to eye him warily.

"Well then, my boy, I'll just have to have another room set up in your chambers for young Harry." Albus' smile made the Potions Master's suspicion rise.

"Whatever you're planning Albus, just don't" Severus snapped, accompanied by a glare (albeit a weak one) directed at the headmaster. Severus knew that it would be futile to try and stop Albus when he had a plan in mind.

Albus just smiled serenely and left with a soft "Goodnight my boy." Poppy shook her head as she watched the meddling old man leave her infirmary.

Not long after, Severus also took his leave. Taking a still sleeping Harry with him.

In his chambers Severus didn't even try and put Harry in a different bed, knowing that the boy needed to be close to a calming and protective presence (even in his sleep) and that right now that presence was him. So he transfigured their clothes into pyjamas and lay down on his bed. Harry snuggled closer, burring his head further into Severus' chest.

Severus gazed down at his small bundle, his eyes softening as he brushed some of the boys hair out of his face. He could only hope that now things would get better for the boy.

But something told him that things would get worse before they could.

* * *

**yukikiralacus: **First off I can safely say that no this is not a story were Severus is Harry's real father. However I don't know as of yet whether it will or won't be James and Sirius bashing. I can, however, tell you that they will always love Harry and anything they do that may hurt him is not done to hurt him.

Hey, um, I don't really know where this story is going, so if anybody has any suggestions feel free to suggest (however I may not use them).  
Also, I apologise for the shortness of the chapter, I just wanted to get something out.

Thank you for reading this

Please review

Strangestnightmare


	7. Drunken Ramblings

**Alive!**

**Disclaimer: **I do not, nor will I ever own Harry Potter or anything from the Harry Potter Universe.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Drunken Ramblings**

Over the next few weeks Severus' thoughts were proved true. It did indeed get worse.

All thanks (at least in Severus' opinion) to the three remaining marauders. James Potter, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were constantly trying to get to Harry. Severus however had different ideas. He ended up resorting to keeping Harry with him at all times. Not letting the boy out of his sight.

Thankfully for Harry though he had started to talk about his summer at the Dursley's (probably due to the fact that he was used to talking to Severus about how bad the Dursley's were). Ohh, both Harry and Severus knew that the trauma would always be with Harry and it would always be something he would have to fight but the talking was helping. What wasn't helping was his fathers, godfathers and professors attempts to separate him from the safety he associated with Severus.

None of what James, Sirius and Remus tried worked however. This was largely because of Albus' help and the power he held over the ministry (now that Lucius Malfoy was dead). Any and all petitions to remove Severus from Hogwarts, for a magical restraining order against the potions master and any attempts to get him thrown in Azkaban were stopped (by Albus) before they even reached a full court.

The three men weren't the Marauders for nothing though and they used all the tricks they had. Unfortunately they must have been a little rusty as none of them worked, so they pulled out the big guns. Sirius called on Molly Weasley's and counted on her children's well known hatred for their potions master. Really probably not the smartest thing to do (at least if one was thinking about  
Harry's state of mind and not their own wants).

Ron and Ginny went ballistic, and Harry received the worst letter of his life. They accused him of fraternising with the enemy, of being a snake (the worst crime in their eyes) and of going dark. They had never been accused of being the smartest children. Harry was devastated by their response, although not really all that surprised (the reason why he had not told them of his relationship with Severus before now).

-0-

It had been a week since the youngest Weasley's letter arrived and Harry had not left his and Severus' rooms in the dungeon, Severus would have been reluctant to let him go anyway so there was no hardship there. Their relative peace however was broken one day by loud banging on Severus' portrait door.

"Open up Snape! I know you're in there. Open this door!" James Potter's loud voice filtered through to the sitting room, were both Harry and Severus were lazing in front of a roaring fire. Snape scowled and looked at Harry to see what he wanted to do. For his part Harry was just trying to stop the now frantic beating of his heart, loud, sudden noises and traumatised people don't mix all too well. With no immediate response from either of the rooms' two inhabitants the banging continued.

"Come on Snape stop hiding behind a door, you, you…..SLYTHERIN!" Severus noted, almost absently, that the quality of their insults were taking a dramatic turn for the worst. Then the rather pungent odder of hard liquor, Fire-whisky and lots of it Severus guessed, seemed to ooze through the gaps in the door. At this point Harry's heartbeat sky rocketed and his breathing became shorter and shorter. Severus was well enough versed in Harry's reactions to know that attempting to sooth Harry out of his panic attack was a lost cause. With this in mind Severus practically launched himself at his potions cabinet, ripping the door open and scooping up both a Calming Drought and Dreamless Sleep, before almost leaping back to Harry. Both potions were administered in quick succession, Harry's breath evening out and his eyes falling shut in some much needed sleep. With the panic attack averted Severus moved Harry to his room, laying him on his bed and tucking him in, and with one final look at the sleeping boy, headed towards his door like he was headed to war.

James Potters' heavy handed banging was abruptly cut off as the door was wrenched open by a furiously scowling Severus Snape. That however did not stop James, not even a little.

"You," he slurred, pointing a rather wobbly finger at the taller man, "You have my son, my little boy. And, and, and I don't know why." At this point it had become apparent to Severus that if he kept quite James was more likely to say something incriminating, either that or just plain embarrassing (Severus would be happy with either.) He was to be denied however when James' attitude did a 180 and he burst into tears. Great big, very sad tears, that pulled heaving sobs from the mans chest.

"Why, why *sob* did this have *sob* to happen to my *sob* my *sob* my BABY!" Severus was at a loss about what to do with a hysterically crying James Potter at his door. A James Potter who seemed to have wondered away from his two partners in crime to confront the Potions Master drunk and alone.

"I just, I just *sob* want everything to go *sob* away," James' head suddenly snapped up and his eyes locked on Snapes' with a worrying amount of intensity. His hands shot up to grab the front of Snapes' robes and he pulled himself closer to the man, much to the dismay of the already confused Severus.

"You are helping him, I think, right? Yes helping, maybe. But I should be the one helping. But I wasn't there and, and, and you were. And I don't know why, but that seems to be a good thing. Is it a good thing? Remus doesn't think it's a good thing and…." James continued to ramble about how he wasn't sure any more that Snape being there for Harry was a bad thing. All the while keeping his eyes locked with Severus' and his hands attached to Snapes' robes.

"Potter," Severus attempted to interrupt the mans rant, but much to his annoyance he didn't succeed. James continued to ramble on (and on and on and on) although now he was starting to slur more words, and list slightly sidewise. Severus grit his teeth going over the things he could do to remove the man from his presence, ranging from the violent (hex him, HEX HIM NOW!) to the not as violent (punch him in the face and slam the door). Just as Severus was getting ticked off enough to go for the violent course of action James managed to mumble what would become his saving grace.

"I think Harry is better off with you as a parent and I don't know how to deal with that," He then proceeded to prove how drunk he was by giggling and whispering "Shhhhhhh don't tell Rems or or Siri." He finished with a smile and then promptly passed out, falling straight onto Severus (who let him crash to the floor). Severus sighed as he went over the words in his head.

'No,' he decided after that he couldn't just leave the man on the floor outside his room. He supposed it would be a good start to salvaging the tattered remains of the relationship between father and son. With that in mind he hoisted James up and dragged him to the spare room in his courters. Dumping the comatose man on the bare bed, before leaving and spelling the door locked from the outside.

* * *

Hello to anybody who is actually reading this. First off a sorry to anybody who was actually waiting for an update, my muse for this fandom and this type of story in this fandom died a quick and painful death. To be honest it's still not really there so this story will probably be finishing in 1 or 2 chapters with a chance for a sequel.

As always

Thank You for reading

Strangestnightmare


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